NYC Brownfields Internship

I just received info on a new internship opportunity:

The NYC Brownfield Partnership is soliciting applicants for its Brownfield Internship program. The Internship Program is intended for students who have a genuine interest in brownfield redevelopment and who are pursuing studies and careers in the brownfield industry. Current undergraduate or graduate students enrolled at an accredited NYC college or university are eligible to apply. The Partnership will be looking for students pursuing studies related to brownfields, namely, environmental engineering, environmental or geosciences, such as geology or hydrogeology, biology, chemistry, public affairs and administration, architecture, environmental policy, environmental planning, environmental justice, environmental law, real estate, sustainable development, urban affairs, urban planning, industrial hygiene, or public health. The 2010 program period will extend throughout the summer (June to August 2010); however, other internship periods may be negotiated directly with the Partnership. Applications will be accepted from January 2010 to April 2010 on a rolling basis, but students are encouraged to apply early. Students may apply online at www.brownfieldnyc.org or send in a completed application form.

Paper in Environmental Science and Technology

My collaborators at University of Delaware and I recently published a paper on the distribution of proton dissociation constants of natural organic matter. The paper discusses the use of SPARC (short for SPARC Performs Automated Reasoning in Chemistry to compute proton dissociation constants for model humic and fulvic acid molecules. Congrats to all involved.

Classes in Fall

The summer is marching forward, and will be over before we know it. My teaching schedule for next year is now finalized:

ENGS 115 - Intro to Engineering - I teach one of the modules in this "round-robin" course. I spend my alloted 5 hours covering the NYC water supply system. We do a 2 hour lab "competition" where teams compete against one another to build the best water filter. Did I mention there were prizes for the winning team?

ENGS 204 - Environmental Engineering Principles - This is an introductory class in environmental engineering for sophomore Civil and Civil/Environmental majors. I cover all of the basic "tools" that environmental engineers need to start solving real-world problems. Sort of like the "Statics" for structural engineering.

ENVG 706 - Water Chemistry - My graduate class in water chemistry is perhaps my favorite class to teach. Three hours a night of everything you ever wanted to know about the chemistry of water.

Don't hesitate to get in touch with me if you are interested in taking any of my courses and have questions.

Paper in Polyhedron

Congrats to Magda, Timm and Tias on our paper being published in the journal Polyhedron. The paper details some of Magda's work while a Masters student at Manhattan College. The link to the paper can be found here: link.

Beakers

I love when you expect something from Google search and get the unexpected.



I didn't know Dr. Bunsen's last name was Honeydew.

Setting goals

Well, the new semester is about to start (how exciting). At the start of every semester, I set goals for what I want to accomplish before the semester ends. My goals for this semester are to submit a paper that I've been sitting on, and finish off a paper I'm currently in the process of writing. On top of that, I have two conferences to go to (SETAC and the UMass Sediments conference) where I am giving presentations. I also want to get down to Hopkins at some point, and we have an ABET visit to get through.

Oh, and let's not forget I'm teaching 4 classes too. It's time to get ready!

Ciba High School Chemistry Institute

On July 28, the Ciba High School Chemistry Institute visited the Environmental Engineering Labs at Manhattan College for the annual "Filter Design Competition." The students did a great job! Check out the photos:
http://picasaweb.google.com/richeql/CibaHighSchoolChemistryInstitute2008

GRC 2008

Just got back from the Environmental Sciences: Water Gordon Conference in Holderness, NH. The organizers (Deb Swackhamer and Bill Ball) did a fantastic job, despite the bad weather! I was told by the attendees that my talk "Developing Modeling Approaches for Metals Risk Assessment" went well, so it was a good meeting. It was good to see everyone again!

A New Year and Semester Begin

So here we are at the start of yet another new semester. New challenges lie ahead for students and faculty alike. I am excited to get this semester started, especially because I am looking forward to teaching Reliability, a Junior level class which has many students that I have had before as Freshman and Sophomores. Let's see if they can step it up a notch. If you are in the other two classes I am teaching - I look forward to seeing you too.

Track the Veggie Car

Manhattan College graduate student Eric Sparimino is currently driving across the country in the college's waste vegetable oil (WVO) powered Mercedes Benz. He is on his way to WEFTEC '07 in San Diego. Check out his adventures at his blog. The car is appropriately and coincidentally green in color.